Prologue;

Kaia exhaled, ridding the extra tension from her body. She raised the bow and aimed at the target at the other end of the field.

"Adjust your elbow," Carla, current Head Counsellor of the Apollo Cabin, instructed. Olive skin brushed against Kaia's coffee-coloured flesh, raising the elbow to the correct angle.

Kaia smiled wryly. "I can't seem to get that right."

"Hey, you've only been here a week. You'll pick it up soon enough."

Kaia nodded once and realigned her focus with the target. She was vaguely aware of Apollo's other kids on either side of her, their shots effortless, almost always scoring bullseyes. Kaia wondered if she could ever be that good.

Kaia knew she should have been with her other siblings, but at the moment, they were all buried in books. Kaia didn't know how they could stand it. 

So she'd dropped everything and hurried outside, to find archery in practice. A quick word with Carla, and the fourteen-year-old was welcomed to the session with open arms.

She stared intently at the dot in the middle of the board. She imagined she was staring down a tunnel, a miniscule one, only wide enough for her arrow to fit through. The tunnel ended when it reached that dot on the other end.

I've got this.

Kaia drew the arrow back. Her muscles screamed with the effort, though she had developed a small amount of muscle being here about a week, and going through sword fighting, archery, and climbing the wall of death.

"Kaia!"

Kaia yelped and let loose the arrow. It veered severely off course, as though caught in a strong gust of wind. Kaia winced when it landed just inches from a very startled Chiron.

"Sorry!" Kaia cried. Around her, the other Apollo children started at the noise. Several arrows went wide, and curses of varying degrees filled the air, to the point Chiron had to reprimand several campers.

Kaia wheeled around to the source of the sudden outburst: a tiny girl with Cinderella hair, her cheeks still slightly chubby, a knife strapped to her waist.

Kaia groaned. "Annabeth. You almost made me kill Chiron!"

Annabeth came to a flying stop in front of Kaia. She was panting, her cheeks flushed bright red.

Annabeth had arrived at camp just three days after Kaia. Kaia still remembered the circumstances clearly in her mind: she'd been alone on the climbing wall, trying to keep her ADHD self preoccupied and active. She'd just reached the top when she'd become aware of commotion – and nearly fell off when she saw the swarm of monsters pursuing a group of four, who looked miniscule in comparison to the masses.

Kaia hadn't thought. She'd almost dropped to the floor, picked up the closest weapon – a bronze sword – and charged for Half-Blood Hill.

She'd been too late. Annabeth and Luke Castellan had made it across with their guide, Grover, but just as Kaia arrived, she saw the third half-blood (a girl with spiked black hair), get cut down by the sheer number of monsters.

"Thalia!"

Annabeth had been sobbing. She screamed and tried to run back to her friend, even when she turned into a pine tree.

Luke, in contrast, was silent. But he had been pale like the dead, staring mutely at the place the girl – Thalia – had fallen. His expression was worse than any sound that could have come from his mouth.

Their satyr had collapsed in grief.

Kaia had frozen, overwhelmed by the sudden events, but soon recovered and dashed toward the survivors. She dashed to the little girl, who needed her the most, and wrapped her dark arms around the girl's fairer ones.

"Hey," she'd whispered. "It's okay. You're safe now. I'm Kaia. I'm like you, a Half-Blood. Let's move, okay? I'll get some ambrosia for that ankle, how does that sound? And I'll inquire about hot chocolate."

Annabeth had still been crying, but allowed Kaia to guide her. Perhaps she had still been shell-shocked and just moved wherever Kaia did, limping the entire way on her swollen ankle.

Kaia had cast a look over her shoulder, wondering about the boy and the satyr, but others had reached them by then. Assured they'd be fine, Kaia had directed Annabeth in the direction of the Big House.

After finding Annabeth some ambrosia, making her a cup of hot chocolate, and talking to calm her down, Annabeth had decided to trust Kaia completely. The revelation they were both daughters of Athena only brought them closer together. They slept next to each other in the cabin, paired up for activities, and generally looked out for each other.

It had only been a few days, yet Annabeth was already like a little sister to Kaia. In fact, she was the only other Athena kid that Kaia felt comfortable with, perhaps because the blonde was new, just like she was.

So to see her now, any anger at being disrupted from her shot washed away like water down a drain. She offered Annabeth a smile and placed her bow on the rack.

"Annabeth!" She noticed that Annabeth's eyes were swirling, like clouds on a rainy day. She frowned. "What is it?"

Annabeth pouted. "It's Luke. He's distracted – he doesn't have time for me. I think he misses Thalia a lot."

Luke – the boy who had arrived with Annabeth. Kaia gazed upward and saw the silhouette of lone figure standing by Thalia's pine tree.

Kaia hadn't seen much of Luke since the day he and Annabeth arrived, especially since he had been claimed by Hermes. He was mostly with his cabin, or by himself. From the far-away look in his eyes and the way he kept looking to Thalia's pine tree, Kaia had figured he was grieving, and decided to let him have some breathing room to recover before she tried to get to know him.

Kaia sighed. Her fingers started to drum anxiously against her leg, and she bounced subconsciously on the balls of her feet. "What do you want me to do?"

"Could you talk to him?"

"Me?"

She couldn't have been more shocked if Annabeth asked her to run for presidency.

Annabeth pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the side. It would look serious on an adult's face, but on little Annabeth, it just looked downright adorable. "You remind me of him. You might be able to relate to him."

Kaia's eyes widened. Even at seven, Annabeth was really very wise.

Kaia tried to think of an excuse, but staring into Annabeth's pleading eyes made her melt like a popsicle in summer heat. How could she refuse Annabeth?

"No problem, Beth." Kaia tousled Annabeth's hair. "I'll check in with him. You owe me if this goes badly, however!"

Annabeth gasped and flung her arms around Kaia's waste. "Thank you so much Kaia!"

Kaia laughed, and patted Annabeth on the back. Her laugh was choked. For a seven-year-old, Annabeth had surprising strength in those thin little arms. "No worries, kiddo. Now let me go, or I'll never get my favour!"

Annabeth giggled and scampered off. Kaia watched her with a fond smile before she clapped Carla on the shoulder. "Looks like I have to cut today short."

Carla rolled her eyes. "Kids these days, right?"

Kaia snorted and marched off.

The entire way, she tried to conjure a good welcome in her head. Hey, how's it going? No, that wouldn't do. He was obviously still in mourning, he probably wouldn't respond well to that question. Nice view? Kaia actually hit herself. Do you want him to hate you straight away? His friend died there, and then turned into a pine tree. Of course it wouldn't look beautiful to him!

Kaia wondered if there was a book on human interaction in the Athena cabin, and not for the first time, regretted her inability to focus for more than a minute at a time.

In what felt like no time at all, Kaia was in the shadow of the tall tree. She slowed to a stop beside the boy. She made sure her footsteps were loud so she didn't startle him.

Kaia cleared her throat. "Luke Castellan, right?"

She had to start somewhere. And it wasn't atrocious. Names were generally safe beginnings.

The boy froze, but eventually, he turned.

Luke Castellan wasn't half-bad looking, Kaia thought. He could have passed for a model, if not for the way his features were cast in shadow. Grief haunted him like a ghost, darkening every line on his face.

He didn't look very enthusiastic to see her. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Who are you?"

Looks like I'm going to have to work hard at this to appease Annabeth.

Kaia winked and outstretched her hand. "Kaia Wolfhart, daughter of Athena, at your service."

Luke shook it once. "Annabeth sent you," he said flatly.

"Got it in one. Kid's worried about you."

Luke's face remained blank. He turned his gaze back toward the tree and reached out, touching the bark with the palm of his hand. The gesture vaguely reminded Kaia of someone reaching out to take another's hand.

Kaia pressed her own hand to the tree. She imagined she could feel a heartbeat beneath the wood: the last remnants of the girl, who took her last stand to protect her friends.

"Thalia was brave," Kaia whispered. "I admire her a lot for that. If I'd been aware of what was going on earlier, I'd have tried to help. I wish I could have. No one deserves to die that young."

Kaia pulled a piece of string from her pocket and set about tying knots. It was something she used to keep herself focused when there was nothing else to do. It was the only way she had lasted throughout her classes, by tying knots underneath her table – it was better than constantly squirming in her seat and rocking on her chair.

The knowledge that Athena was also the goddess of useful crafts – including weaving – was probably another reason that Kaia gravitated to tying knots in string when she couldn't focus.

"How long have you been here?" Luke asked lowly, focus still honed on Thalia's tree.

Kaia turned the underlying message of his words: how much help would you really have been?

"A week." Kaia closed her eyes. "Whenever I think of you, I'm reminded how lucky I am. I could've so easily been in your position, or Thalia's. Instead, I made it."

Her satyr guide, Cloyd, had delivered her to Camp Half-Blood in the nick of time. Monsters had pursued them – two cyclops. Fortunately, Kaia had crossed the boundary line before she could be caught, and several more experienced demigods had taken down the monsters before she could blink.

Yet the journey haunted Kaia. When she went to sleep, she saw the scene play in her mind, only a million times worse. There were ten, not two. They caught up to herself and Cloyd. Several times this week Kaia had shot awake, covered in cold sweat, because she dreamed of a cyclops striking her dead.

Luke turned his gaze to her. His eyes lowered to her waist. "You okay?"

"Hmm?" Kaia raised the string to eye level and laughed. "Oh, this? Major ADHD, even by demigod standards. I can't remain still. It drove Ellie mad sometimes."

"Ellie? Who's that?"

"My girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yes, genius. I'm bisexual." Kaia raised an eyebrow, lowering the string. "You got a problem with that?"

Luke shook his head. "Not at all. It's cool. I admire that, really, your courage to be yourself."

He grinned, and Kaia's breath caught in her throat. She could have hugged him, there and then. Most people didn't respond so easily when she told them of her sexuality.

She was open, and didn't care when others didn't react. Some told her she was confused, and would make her mind up which gender she preferred one day. Others said it was a sin. Some had tried to warn Ellie that she was even more likely to be cheated on. Ellie had retorted every time by putting her lips to Kaia's, then raising an eyebrow at whatever idiot had spoken. "I don't know about you," she'd say, "But I like her, just as she is."

So for Luke to so readily accept that part of her... It meant the world.

"Thanks," she said, trying to saturate her words with gratefulness. "That means a lot, actually."

Luke smiled. He turned back to Thalia's tree and sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Look, I appreciate you looking out for me. I'll talk to Annabeth later."

Kaia could have punched the air, jumped a few feet, and shouted to the heavens. She had no idea how, but she had succeeded in her quest. She couldn't wait to see Annabeth's reaction when Luke sought her out later on – a word that Kaia would hold Luke to.

Instead, she nudged Luke in the side.

"You know... I don't really get along well with most of my cabin, apart from Annabeth. I'm kind of an outsider. I can barely read a page without getting agitated. I'm not a genius. I don't have blonde hair." She kicked out at the ground. "Annabeth is like a little sister to me... but it would be nice to have a friend. And I have a feeling you might need one."

He couldn't just keep a pine tree as company. Besides, there was something about Luke's naturally mischievous features that drew Kaia to him. Something told her he'd be a good friend, and fun to hang around with.

For a long time, Luke didn't respond. Kaia wrung her hands together, afraid that she might have overstepped a boundary.

But Luke nodded. "I'd like that."

Kaia beamed.

"Then it's settled." She saluted the son of Hermes, already backtracking off the hill. "See you at sword fighting tomorrow, friend!"

This time, Luke's eyes sparkled when he grinned.

"I look forward to it." 

**********

oh gods i already love these three

what are your first impressions of kaia? i'm really excited to start writing more of this story! though i'm warning you, you might want to brace yourselves, it's going to be kind of a bumpy ride ~